Variable-speed gearing.



NO. 790,425. PATENTB MAY 23, 1905.

J. E. & JV. 0'. CAPs. VARIABLE. SPEED GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5.1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

16 zo 17 Z0 WWW/wao 4' W l JBATENTBIDA MAY 23, 1905.

.J. E. a J. C. CAPS. VARIABLE SPEED GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-.5.1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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I 341-1; @whims UNITED STATES JOHN EDWARD CAPS AND JOHN CONRAD CAPS, OF KANSAS CITY y MISSOURI.

lPatented May 23, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.,

VARIABLE-SPEED GEARING.

SPECIFICATION 'Olmiilg part of Letters Patent No. 790,425, dated May 23, 1905. Applicationrled September 5, 1903. Serial No. 172,146.

T0 all whom, it Huey concern:

Be it -known that we, Jol-1N EDWARD CAPS and J oHN CONRAD CAPS, citizens of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Variable-Speed Gearing, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relatesmore particularly to improvements in that class of variable-speed gearing wherein a plurality of different size gears are associated with a shaft and with suitable mechanism by which any of said gears can be connected to the shaft to rotate or be rotated by the same.

One of the objects of the presentinvention is to provide novel mechanism of the above character that is very efiicient in action and yet comparativelysimple in construction, the connecting device between the shaft and gears being so constructed and related to its actuating means that it may be positively thrown out of action and readily moved to proper position with respect to any gear de-V sired.

Another extremely-important object is to maire the Vsaid actuating mechanism for the connecting device very simple in manipulation, so that the gearing is particularly applicable to self-propelled vehicles, though not limited to such use.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification. The invention is not limited, however, to the exact structure and arrangement shown, as will be evident by referring to the claims hereto appended. g

In the drawings, Figure 1 is avertical sectional view th rough the gearing, showing the mechanism for connecting the different gears I to the shaft and the actuating means therefor.

Fig. 2 is afhorizontal' sectionalview, on lan enlarged scale, through the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the driven shaft. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the same.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view showing the cam-shaft.

Similar reference-numerals indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In the embodiment illustrated a casing 7 is employed, in which is journaled an engine or driving shaft 8 and a driven shaft 9, the latter having the portion located within the casing enlarged and hollow, beinglprovided with a longitudinally-disposed bore 10. The vhollow shaft is provided in its opposite interior faces with guideways .11, and oppositely-located openings 12, extending through the walls of said shaft, communicate with the guideways, said openings being separated by cross-webs 13. Gear-wheels 14, 14;, 14h, and 15 are carried by the engine-shaft 8 and coact, respectively, with gear-wheels 16, 16,

16h, and 17, looselyjournaled on the hollow shaft 9. The gear-wheels 15 and "17 are the reversing-gears, as will be readily understood.

The gear-wheels 16, 16a, 16h, and 17 are mounted upon collars 18, which surround the shaft 9, said collarsv carrying outstanding clutch members in the form of hoods that comprise angularly-disposed sections 19, bolted together, as'shown at 20. One of the sections of each hooded clutch member has a portion lying alongside its gear-wheel and fastened thereto by suitable screws 21, the other section having its inner edge spaced from the shaft 9. Other clutch members coact with the hooded members and comprise semicirc'ular sections 22, having inwardly-extending lugs' 23, that engage in the openings 12 of the shaft 9, so that said sections are revoluble with the shaft. These sections are normally drawn toward each other and held out of coacting relation with the hooded members by means of coiled springs 24 or other suitable gears, attached to inwardly-extending projections 25, formed upon the sections 22 and located on opposite sides of the shaft 9. It will thus be evident that under normal conditions the inner clutch members or sections 22 are out of engagement with the hooded members 19, and the gear-wheels 16, 16, 16h, and 17 are thus disconnected from the shaft 9. The following means are therefore employed for connecting .said clutchl members, and consequently the gear-wheels, to the shaft. Projecting from one end of the casing and on opposite sides of the shaft 9 are a pair of slide-rods 26, on which are slidably mounted relatively and also simultaneously movable cross-heads 27. These cross-heads are provided with central openings, in which are journaled flanged collars 28, that are in line with the bore 10 of the shaft 9. Stems 29, disposed in substantially parallel relation, are connected, respectively, with the collars, as shown at 30, said stems projecting into the bore of the shaft. An eXpansible and contractible key is employed, comprising` sections 31,` formed, respectively, on the inner ends of the stems 29 and constituting enlargements on vthe same, said key-sections being longitudinally slidable in the guideways 11 and being adapted to aline with the openings l2 and engage the inwardly-extending projections 23 ofthe clutch-member sections 22. Thekey-sections have transversely-disposed sockets 32,-inl which is pivotally mounted a al link 33, that thus connects said sections, as illustrated clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. The outer ends of! the stems 29 are overlapped and extend across the space between the heads 27, thereby constituting a support for a coiled spring 34, surrounding the same and having its opposite'ends bearing against the inner o-pposing ends of the anged collars 28. An actuating-lever 35, pivotally supported between its ends, constitutes the means for moving the key longitudinally in the shaft, said lever having its lower end forked and the terminals slotted, as shown at 36, to engage outstanding pins 37, carried by the outer head 27. The upper end of this lever is formed into asuitable handle 38. The outer head 27 is provided'with spaced depending ears 39, in which` is journaled a cam-shaft 40, having outstanding eccentrically-disposed pins 41. Links 42 each have one end journaled upon one of the pins 41, the other ends of said links being suitably attached to the inner head 27. The cam-shaft also has a crank-arm 43, to which is attached the lower end of a drawrod 44, having its upper end fastened to a bell-crank latch 45, pivoted to the upperend of the lever. A quadrant-plate 46 is disposed alongside the upper portion of the lever and is provided with a plurality of deep notches 47, between which are located shallow notches 48. Asuitable dog 49, carried by the drawrod '44, is arranged to engage in any of these notches.

The operationy of this mechanism may be briefly described as follows: Assuming' the key-sections 31 as being drawn toward each other, it will be evident that all the clutch-sections 22 will be out of eoacting relation with the hooded members 19,and thus the shaft 9 and gears 16,16, 16h, and 17 will not be connected. Therefore when the engine 5 is in operation the 'shaft 9 will be at'rest'. 1f, however, the

key is expanded, the outer edges ofthe sections 31 thereof will pass into the adjacent openings 12 and bearing against the projections 23 of the clutch-sections will force said sections outwardly and into clamping engagement with the eoacting hooded member. The result is that the gear carried by said hooded member will be clutched to the shaft 9, and thus said shaft will be rotated from the engineshaft 8. The movements of the key are accomplished in the following manner: Then the latch 45 andhandle 38 are grasped and said latch is drawn toward the handle, it will be evident that the cam-shaft 4() will be partially revolved, thus drawing upon the links, and consequently moving the heads 27 toward cach other. This will cause thc relative movement of the stems 29,the upper moving into the shaft and the lower moving out ol the same. This movement by swinging the link 33 will cause they key-sections 31 to more toward each other, consequently contracting the key and disengaging the same from the adjacent clutch. The same movement of the latch 45 causes the disengagement of the dog 49 from the quadrant-arm, and consequently frees the lever 35. The operator, maintaining the grasp upon the latch 45, thereupon swings the lever a suflicient distance to bring the key into eoacting relation with the clutch of the desired gear. This relation can be readily ascertained by the position of the dog 49 with respect to the deep'notches, said notches corresponding to the number of gear-wheels, as will be evident by the reference-numerals l, 2, 3, and 4. When this relation has been obtained, it is only necessary to release the latch, whereupon the spring 34, acting against the heads 27, will force said heads apart, returning the cam-shaft to its original position and drawing the dog` 49 into the new notch. The separation of the heads also causes a retrograde relative movement on the part ol` the stems 29, thus swinging the link toward an upright position and expanding the key. Said key will therefore move into eoacting relation with the adjacent clutch member, and consequently the gear-wheel desired will be connected to the shaft. lf it is desired to disconnect the shaft entirely from all of the gearwheels, this may be readily accomplished by throwing the dog into one ol the shallow notches 48, which will maintain the heads in their nearer relation, and consequently hold the key contracted.

1t is desired to call attention to the following advantages which this structure has: ln the first place it will be observed that the key is positively contracted, so that it is out of coacting relation with the various elements and it can be held out of said relation during its entire movement from one end of the gearing to the other; The result is that comparativly little power is needed to vary the speed, and said key will not momentarily throw cach gear lOO IlO

There is thus a distinct ad vantage for having mechanismwhich Vwill positively contract the key and hold it out of coacting relation during its longitudinal movement, though in the construction shown the mechanism for expanding the key 1s not positive but reactlve, said eX- pansion being caused'by the spring 34. A

further and very important advantage resides in the fact' that the entire mechanism is controlled by a single lever and latch, so that it can be readily operated by an inexperienced person, and thus is particularly applicable to sirable results are obtained is' comparatively simple and at the same time practicable in that it is not liable to derangement.

From theforegoing it is thought that the construction, operation, and many advantages of the herein-describedinvention will be apther description,and it will be understood that Various changes in the size, shape, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofl the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Let- 1 ters Patent, isf- A l 1. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of a plurality of gears mountedthereon, means for connecting the gears to the shaft including key members that are relatively movable longitudinally of the shaft, and means for separating the members vupon their said relative longitudinal movements.

2. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of a plurality of gears mounted thereon, means for connecting the gears to the shaft including relatively movable dinally of the shaft, and means interposed ,be-

tween the key-sections for causing the separation thereof uponthe relative longitudinal movement of said key-sections.

4:.- In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of a plurality of gears mounted thereon, and meansfor connecting the gears to the shaft, said means including a key movable on the shaft to coacting-relation with the different gears and. comprisingrela- `tively movable key-sections, and ailink con-` ,of gears mounted thereon, means for connectving the gearsto the shaft including relatively movable stems slidably mounted in the shaft and each having a key-section, and means for separating said sections upon the relative movement of the stems.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with av hollow shaft, of a plurality ofV gears mounted thereon, and meansfor connecting the gears to the shaft, sald means 1ncluding relatively 'movable stems slidably mounted in the shaft and having key-sections y.that separate upon the relative movement of `the stems, a connection between the stems for .effecting the separation thereof, and means -for moving the stems simultaneously and relay tively.

parent to those-skilled in the art without fur- 7 In mechanism of the cla-ss described, the

lcombination with a hollow shaft, of gears .mounted on the Shaft, and Ymeans for connecting the gears to the shaft, said means including relatively and simultaneously movable Istems located longitudinally within the shaft, key-sections carried by the stems, and a link connecting the key-sections.

8. In mechanism of the classdescribed,.the

4combination with a'hollow shaft, of gearvwheels .loosely journaled on the shaft and having clutch members, other clutch members revoluble within the shaft andcoact-ing with the clutch members of the gears, stems slidably mounted in the shaft, and relatively movable key-sections carried b v the stems and movable toward and away from 'each other, said key-sections being movable into engagement with the different clutch members of the shaft, and a link connecting the key-sections.

9. In mechanism of the class described, the

Ycombination with a shaft, of gears mounted thereon, means for conn ecting the gears tothe shaft, said means including an expansible and contractible key that is slidablewith respect to the shaft, means for locking the key against sliding movement and effecting the expansion and contraction thereof, and a device for'op- IDO erating said means to simultaneously unlock able longitudinally of the shaft, and common means for locking the key against its longitudinal movement and effecting the eX pansion,

`and contraction-of the same.

11. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft,of a plurality of gears ymounted thereon, means for connectingA then gears to the shaft, said mea-ns including an expansible and contractible key that is movablelongitudinal-ly of the shaft, actuating meansfor effecting the longitudinal movement of the key, mechanism for contracting the key, anda lock for the actuating means, said lock being connected with the contracting mechanism.

12. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of a plurality of gears mounted thereon, means for connecting the gears to the shaft, said means including an expansible and contractible key that is slidable with respect to the shaft, means for eX- panding the key including relatively and simultaneously movable heads, means for simultaneously moving the heads, and separate means for relatively moving the heads.

13. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft,of a plurality of gears mounted thereon, means for connecting the gears to the shaft, said means including an expansible and contractible key that is slidable with respect to the shaft, means for eX- panding the key including relatively and simultaneously movable heads, means for simultaneously moving the heads, means for relatively moving the heads, and a lock connected to the relatively moving means for holding the simultaneously-moving means against aetion.

14. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of gea-rs mounted thereon, and means for connecting the shaft and gears, said means including simultaneously and relatively movable heads, stems connected to the heads, key-sections carried by the stems and coacting with the gears, and means for relatively and simultaneously moving the heads.

15. In mechanism of the class described, the combination With a hollow shaft, of gears mounted thereon, and means for connecting the shaft and gears, said means including simultaneously and relatively movable heads, stems connected respectively to the heads, key-sections carried by the stems and coacting with the gears, a connection between the key-sections for separating them upon the relative movements of the heads, and means for relatively and simultaneously moving the heads.

16. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of gears mounted thereon, and means for connecting the shaft and gears, said means including simultaneously and relatively movable heads, stems connected to the heads, key-sections carried by the stems and coacting with the gears, means for positively and relatively moving the heads in one direction, and reactive means for relatively moving the heads in the opposite direction.

17. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a hollow shaft, of gears mounted thereon, relatively movable heads located at one end of the shaft, stems carried respectively by the heads and projecting within the shaft, key-sections carried by the stems, means located between the sections for separating the same upon the relative movements of the heads, a spring interposed between the heads, and a lever connected to one of the heads.

18. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a casing, of slide-rods projecting from one end of the casing, a hollow shaft journaled in the casing, gears loosely mounted on the shaft, coacting' clutch members carried respectively by the gears and shaft, relatively and simultaneously movable cross-heads slidably mounted on the sliderods, stems connected respectively to the heads and extending into the shaft, key-sections carried by the inner ends of the stems, a link pivotally connecting' the sections, said key-sections coacting with the-clutch members, a spring interposed between the heads, means for relatively moving the heads and an actuating-lever attached to one of the heads.

19. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft,of a plurality of gears mounted thereon, a key movable on the shaft and into and out of coaction with the gears, means for moving the key on the shaft and into coactingrelation with the gears, and positive means for moving the key out of such coaction and holding the same during its movement upon the shaft.

20. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft,of a plurality of gears mounted thereon, and means for connecting the gears to the shaft, said means including an expansible and contractible key movable longitudinally of the shaft, means for moving the key longitudinal-ly with respect to the shaft, and a key-actuated device for positively contracting said key and holding the same in contracted condition during its movement.

21. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft,of a plurality of gears mounted on the shaft, an expansible and contractible key for connecting the gears to the shaft, said key being movable longitudinally of the shaft, manually-operated means for moving the key longitudinally of the shaft, and manually-operated means for positively contracting the key and holding the same in contractedcondition during its longitudinal movement.

22. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft,of a plurality of gears mounted on the shaft, and mechanism for connecting the gears to the shaft, said mechanism ineluding an expansible and contractible key that is movable longitudinally ofthe shaft, means for moving the key longitudinally of the shaft, means for contracting the key and holding the same in contracted condition d uring its longitudinal movement, and a lock ear- ICO ried by the said contracting means for holding the longitudinally-moving means against movement. I

23. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of gears mounted on the shaft, and mechanism for connecting the gears to the shaft, said mechanism including an expansible and contractible key that is movable longitudinally of the shaft, aw lever for moving the key, and means carried by the lever and connected with the key for expanding and positively contracting said key.

24. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with. a hollow shaft, of gears mounted thereon, and means for connecting the gears to the shaft, said means including an expansible and contractible key that is movable longitudinally of the shaft, a lever for moving the key longitudinally of the shaft, means for expanding' and contracting the key, and a locking device mounted on the lever and connected with the expanding and contracting means.

25. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a hollow shaft, of` gears loosely journaled thereon, clutch members xed to the gears, other clutch members coacting with the gear-clutch members and carried by the shaft, relatively and slidably mounted heads, stems aiiixed to the heads and extending within the hollow'shaft, key-sections carried by the stems and movable toward and from each other, said key-sections coacting with the'clutch members, a link connecting the 'key-sections, a 'spring interposed between the heads, a lever having a connection with one of the heads, a cam-shaft journaled on one of said heads, links connecting the cam-shaft and theother head, a quadrant-arm disposed contiguous to the lever, and a lock carried by the lever and coacting with the quadrant-arm, said lock also having a connection with the cam-shaft.

26. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a hollow shaft having oppositely-disposed openings and an interior guideway, of a plurality of independent gear-wheels journaled on the shaft, a hooded clutch memi ber attached to one side of each wheel, another clutch member located within the hooded member and comprising sections having inwardly-extending lugs located in the openings in the shaft, springs connecting the sections for moving them toward each other, and an expansible 'key movably located in the shaft and engaging in the guideway thereof, said key being movable into the` openings of the shaft and engaging the lugs of the various clutch sections to force said sections outwardly.

27. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a shaft, of transmission means mounted thereon, a key for connecting the shaft to the means, and a device actuated by the movement of the key to effect the engagement and disengagement of said key with and from the transmission means.

28. In mechanism of the class described, the

lcombination with a shaft, of transmission means mounted thereon, a key for connecting the shaft to the means, and a device positively operated in different directions by the key to effect the positive engagement of said key with and the positive disengagement of said key from the transmission means.

29. In mechanism of the class described,the combination with a shaft, of gears mounted thereomstems movable longitudinally on the shaft to carry them to different gears and having relative movements with respect to each other, said relative movements being also longitudinally of the shaft, means connected to the stems for effecting both of said Inovements, and means for spreading the inner ends of the stems upon the relative longitudinal movements thereof to effect engagement with the gears. l

30. In mechanism of the class described, the combination withdriving means, of transmission means, a key carried by one means and movable into and out of engagement with the other, means for locking the key and effecting the disengagement thereof, and a device for operating said locking means to simultaneously unlock and disengage said key.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN EDWARD CAPS. JOHN CONRAD CAPS.

Witnesses:

Gr. E. HENRY, M. B. CAPs. 

